Guests often enquire what Los Castaños means and, of course, it’s obvious once you get here – chestnut trees! (in Spanish the tree is masculine and the fruit feminine so the chestnuts themselves are called las castañas) The valley is…

The Alto Genal is the place to be in November! Four of the seven small villages scattered around the Alto Genal valley have a special festival celebrating an important aspect of local produce. But this is Andalucia so there is…

Love ‘em or hate ‘em, IKEA has done a Good Thing! To celebrate their Malaga store’s five year anniversary, IKEA promised 25,000 euros to the village that received the most votes. We won!! The 25,000 euros has to be spent…

An exciting new restaurant – well, really just a bar with food but none the less thrilling for all that – has opened in Farajan, two villages along from Cartajima in the Alto Genal. We try to keep up with…

Not just eagles capture our admiring gaze as they soar gracefully over Los Castanos. In greater numbers we see griffon vultures, the largest European bird with a wingspan up to 9 feet. We frequently see griffons in the air, rising…

This blogpost will be of interest to lovers of: almonds, food anthropology, and etymology. The almonds are just out in the Alto Genal valley, their gentle white and pink flowers contrasting sharply with the wiry bare branches of the figtrees….

Many cans of “pitufo* azul” paint are emptied every day as Juzcar’s old walls are prepared for the big event on an unspecified day but rumoured (Sony aren’t saying anything) to be 16th June in advance of the launching of…

Michelle Obama will come within six kilometres of Cartajima today on her way to visit Ronda. But she will never know we are here! The map certainly wouldn’t reveal the secret. Who would be idiotic enough to open a hotel…